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getting my Yucatan drivers license, part 2 and 3

If you choose you can refresh your memory of 'getting my Yucatan drivers license, part 1'here!

Having pushed my return date to go take my tests for my drivers license off for a few days, there always seems to be something more important going on - I finally managed to get up to Siglo XXI. I turned in my paperwork; copies and originals of my immigration card, my passport and my comprobante de domicillo, and waited. When I was finally called, I had to answer a few simple questions, any serious illness, allergies, need glasses, blood type, etc. I took the eye exam, was returned my original documents and then was directed back out to wait some more. Then I was called in to take my written test
The problem with people always telling you how good your spanish is is that sometimes you believe them. So when confronted with taking my written test in spanish or english I chose spanish. I mean many people have said how bad the english translation is. So I tried my test in spanish, and failed. I just didn't know what too many of the words were. So completely defeated, deflated, and upset with myself, I tucked tail and left with my slip of paper and instructions to return tomorrow! I almost decided to not tell you that I failed the first time. That was yesterday!

anyway, today I returned to Siglo XXI and was able to bypass the lines and go directly to the testing area. Today, I took it in English! The translations are bad, but at least even in bad english I could reason out what I thought they were asking. I passed. The driving test, a parallel park, was easy. Then back inside - and wait. then pay (365pesos), get the foto taken, and in just a very few minutes the card.

I now have my yucatecan drivers license. whoop, whoop, hands in the air, whoop, whoop!

8 comments:

Debi ... too funny. I have a suggestion ... What do you think would happen if you approached the manager at the vehicle license and told him the translation test was not great and could you (along with a native Spanish speaker ... who knows English) work on a new translation?

Our friend, "M" in Pátzcuaro recently applied for a license and was told he had to take a written test. When we got our first Michoacán driver's licenses, no tests. Nor last year, when we renewed. But the real test was the finding a place that had the physical licenses. Most were out of stock for some time. On the third attempt we found a place in Morelia, and only had to wait over 4 hours in long lines.

We made sure to get 10 year licenses, so that the likelihood of going through this process again is very low.

Debi, thanks for writing this. My US license had expired and I was putting off getting a Yucatecan one. Now I've got it!

For future reference: I showed up a little after 10 on a Tuesday morning and was done by 11. I learned that the copies of your documents have to be actual size (the copy of my FM2 was bigger than life) but for 2 pesos in the next room I got acceptable copies.

I wanted to get a license that expires in 5 years but was told that foreigners can only get licenses for 2.

My "driving" test was actually a little challenging. Mostly it was challenging to understand what the officer wanted me to do in what was to me a confusing sea of cones.

First, I was to pull into a diagonal parking space like in a parking lot. We were actually in a parking lot, but the space was made of cones and had nothing to do with the actual spaces.

Next, I was to pull up next to a bunch of cones, it turns out so he could gauge the length of my car. Then he made a tight parallel parking space out of cones. I didn't get close enough to the curb on the first try but got it on the second. I had the impression that I could keep trying forever, but I'm not sure about that.

I realized at the end of the test that I wasn't wearing my seatbelt because I had planned at first on getting out to talk to the officer. We both noticed and we both pretended that we hadn't noticed.

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